Topic: How to animate?

[Urusei0Yatsura]

How do I get the cels and the right type of pens for mation? Also what software pref free.

[veehive]

Wow! What a question! Okay: forgive me for saying "Google it" but that's your best first move to find sources for animation supplies. There are undoubtedly several on-line retailers who specialize in these things.

The next bit is trickier. The era of the cel is over. Animation is no longer inked-&-painted onto cels. It's all pencil drawings, scanned into a computer and all "ink and paint" is done with Photoshop. And, I do mean PHOTOSHOP,  meaning Adobe Photoshop, almost no one uses any other program (e.g: Corel). Then, these finished frames are assembled digitally into a video format, again by computer.

Freeware animation programs? I'm sorry, I'll have to defer to Mr. Google's all-reaching tentacles again. With one notable exception.

Part of the VOCALOID phenomenon is MIKU MIKU DANCE, a freeware animation program that a fan coded up as a response to the fan mania surrounding Miku Hatsune & company. Yes -- FREEWARE. Google Miku Miku Dance and you'll find it right away. While somewhat limited, it is wildly popular so lots of information about it out there.

Just to show you that it's not limited to Vocaloid dance videos: this video is made using MikuMikuDance:
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Nor is it limited to only Vocaloid characters (as this Touhou PV proves):
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I'll leave off with this latest development: The man who created MMD has found a way to use Kinect to create Motion Capture with MMD. So ... xBox + Kinect + MMD = motion capture for the masses. This video, while crude, shows one of the first trials using Kinect with MMD:
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Hope that helped!

[GiovaneDinamitardo]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOH !!!

I rubbed hardly and longly my eyes  

Just a question: we can use only the characters that we find on the program or we can create someone new ?!?

I'd like to use THESE characters to make them do THIS one

[veehive]

I have good news and bad news.

First: the good news: it is VERY possible to create new character models for MMD. Many many people have already done it; there are probably over 100 characters made for MMD right now. I've seen several of the TouhouProject characters, as well as the entire main cast from K-On! modeled in 3D and used in MMD videos.

The bad news: you may have already guessed -- I have not seen any UruseiYatsura characters in an MMD video. Models of Lum, Ataru, Megane, Chibi, et cetera probably do not exist. Yet.

[Urusei0Yatsura]

I know in terms of mainstream anime cel shading is dead, but I didn't know you could get animation software for ordinary people that doesn't cost massive amounts of money. I was really surpirised to find a freeware animation software. Thanks for the info on Miku Miku Dance.

[veehive]

I have good news and bad news:

The good news -- there IS a Lum MMD model.

The Bad news: it's just Miku in Lum's bikini & boots.

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